This invention pertains to accessories for urinals and more particularly to anti-splash drain mats for urinals.
The typical men's restroom-provided urinal comprises a vertically disposed, porcelain-surfaced receptacle having a collection region at the bottom with a drain disposed therein. Vertical, smooth-sided walls extend above the collection region to provide a surface to receive urination streams and over which water used to flush the urinal is directed on demand or pursuant to periodic control means. Urinal devices typically are wall mounted or floor mounted, though wall mounted versions of the devices are currently more commonplace.
In the customary men's urinal, a small amount of water remains in the collection area between flushes to dilute the urine being collected. This water remains at an ambient level much as water stands between flushes in the commonly used toilet bowl. Some portion of the ambient water pool is accessible in the bottom of the urinal. The drain opening of the urinal may be covered by a screen or a grid or it may comprise openings in the sidewalls of the urinal or in a projecting hub disposed near the bottom of the collection region.
The presence of hard and reflective surfaces commonly encountered in the collection area of a urinal creates a source of splash of liquid droplets as a male individual begins to direct a stream of urine into the urinal and particularly into the collection region where an ambient liquid level may be present. The impingement of the urine stream upon the surface of the ambient pool in the bottom of the urinal induces the scattering of liquid droplets to the outside of the urinal and possibly onto the clothing of the urinal user.
Few efforts have been directed to the reduction of splash from a urinal fixture. Though drain mats are well know, their purpose has been to collect solid debris which otherwise, when deposited in a urinal, would pass into the drain openings and clog or obstruct the drain system for the urinal. The typical urinal mat is a flexible sheet of synthesized material having a screen or grid region through which the urine and other liquids are to pass while solid debris is intended to be collected on the screen or grid surface. The urinal mat is shaped to generally conform to the geometry of the collection area of the urinal and to overlie the drain openings of the urinal. Unfortunately, the presence of a drain mat increases the likelihood of splash of urine droplets as the urine stream strikes the grid or screen surface or other regions of the mat.
Because of the poorly controlled disposal of urine droplets in the usual system, unpleasant odors frequently accompany the presence of urinals, arising from the deposit of odor-causing urine on surrounding floor or wall surfaces. Deodorant materials formed into cakes are commonly used to mask or absorb the undesirable odors accompanying the urinal. Such cakes are available in rings or square or cylindrical blocks.
A successful device for reduction of urine splash when a urine stream is directed into a toilet bowl is presented in our earlier patent entitled "Toilet Anti-splash Device", U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,793. However, the devices disclosed in this patent are not directed to the reduction of splash-back from a urinal. The present invention provides novel means for solution of this type of problem.